TBoBW: a realistic resolution attempt and questions.
Erez Zadok
be as realistic as possible (unlike many other posts... That would ensure
that everyone would scrutinize my post to find unrealism... :-)
I also have some interesting points and questions. Be warned that this is
long.
(There be possible spoilers ahead.)
SHALL NOTs:
No magic solutions please. No super beings to the res-Q please. No new Fed
weapons suddenly working after only a few days when they said that they
won't work for a good few months. No "let's talk to them reasonably"
solution. No dream sequence. No anti-matter. No Wesley.
E VS. CUBE:
I don't want to see Geordi's weapon blast the Borg to smithereens. That
would be too easy and too good to be true. The Enterprise fires and makes
lots of damage for the Borg ship, but not enough to render it "beyond
repair" (that was estimated at 78%.) Say only 60%-70%, which will cause the
Borg to stop for extensive repairs before they can go on to Earth or fight
the Enterprise. However, that blast would cause the Enterprise lots of
damage too. At this point, both ships lose their warp drive, and just "hang
in there" making repairs. Now, we know the Borg are more efficient at
reparing themselves than the Fed (regeneration, remember?) So, it is a
battle over time on both sides. This only buys the E more time. More
people from the Enterprise can beam over with re-tuned fasers and do some
more damage.
Now someone has to help the Enterprise. Since all other Federation ships
are 6 days away, it should be someone else. I would not like to see some
new life forms help the Enterprise, because it would be yet another quick
solution, even if the new life forms are not very powerful. I would like to
see the Klingons come to help, or better yet, the Klingons *and* the
Romulans. I would hope that the Federation has alerted the Klingons of the
Borg issue, and that either the Klingons are not too far, or that they were
cloacked and very nearby. I want to see their real powerful battle ships
(whatever their names are) come to the aid of the Federation. After all
they joined, so lets see some *more* help from them.
If the writers would have it right, there would be Romulans to help as well.
They could be nearby for any reason, even "agricultural research" in the Fed
space (which they're not supposed to cross.) Why would they help? Because
the Romulans have been hit by the Borg and heard about the Fed's problems
with the Borg. Maybe it's too much to expect the Romulans to offer help
just like that, but maybe the Fed could convince them that if they don't
stop the Borg, they would be next...
PICARD/LOCUTUS:
I think that when Picard was Borged, he was made "special". That is, the
Borg made him more biological (read: human), than a machine (read:
borg-like). I have a few reasons to believe that: (1) his voice was
retained; (2) his appearance (esp. the head) was minimally covered with
black parts, and (3) his flesh was still pinkish. These make sense, b/c the
Borg wanted a representative, and they would probably want him to look as
close as possible to a human in order to speak to other humans and be
"convincing."
Wait! There's more. When Worf tried to rescue Picard, he was blocked by a
force field(!?) Why couldn't Locutus simply push him to the end of that
corridor like all other Borg did? Why was he *protected* by a force field?
I say because he was just Borged a few minutes/hours ago, and is still in a
vulnerable stage; that is, his biological parts did not fully adapt to the
machinary in him. That also makes sense. We know that (probably) all Borg
are born as biological life forms and are being implanted with machinary at
a young stage. We know that (human at least) babies adapt better to
implants when young, before their immune system fully kicks in. An older
human is more susceptible to rejections of foreign bodies.
All that means that there's a better (maybe real?) chance of saving Picard.
(BTW, did you see how upset Worf was: "He *IS* a Borg", like they did
something to his father...) I say that while the Borg are now repairing
their ship, less attention is given to Picard, and his full conversion is
being slowed down while the Borg focus all their attention to repair their
ship. At this point, the Enterprise will locate the bring back Picard, and
Dr. Crusher would immediately begin to work on him. I don't want to see her
fully succeed in unborging Picard and then they go on their business like
nothing ever happened (continuity, writers!)
THE CONCLUSION:
While the Borg and Enterprise are in repairs, Klingon and/or Romulan ships
come along and help blast the Borg ship, *after* Picard is retrieved. The
Enterprise limps to the nearest starbase, and Picard is left there to be
treated with some more serious medical help and equipment than is available
on the Enterprise.
WHAT NEXT:
(1) I would think that it would look *very* credible if Picard has to stay
for treatment for a few weeks, and we don't get to see him in a few
episodes. But for continuity's sake, let them mention him from time to
time, even if the Enterprise is dealing with other problems (read:
episodes.) Then after some time he comes back.
(2) Riker takes command of the Enterprise with Shelby as No.1 while Picard
is away. We should see some more "fights" between RIker and Shelby, but I
want to see her more mature and less hasty as time goes by.
(3) If the Romulans will show up to help the Enterprise, it could be the
beginning of a better relationship with the Federation.
(4) Although the Enterprise + friends manages to destroy one Borg ship, I
would want to stress that this should not be the end of it. The whole
Federation should prepare for yet a greater battle. I don't want to see the
Borg flee with their tail behind thir legs after one of their ships was
blasted. It would be unrealistic.
SHELBY, RIKER, et al:
Dunno. I think I did a good job at resolving the episode (so far), but I
got stuck with her. Her position does not fit well. She could only stay on
the Enterprise as first officer if Riker gets command of the Enterprise and
Picard leaves the show (presumably an admiral on a starbase), or ... dies.
I don't want to see Picard leave. But I don't want to see Riker die or get
a promotion and maybe seen once in a long while commanding another ship.
They did mention Riker's promotion and Shelby's position extensively in this
episode so I want to see them resolved elegantly. If anyone has to die, I'd
prefer Shelby to die in some heroic act that saves the Enterprise. Better
her than the regular cast. (Sorry for all of you who want to see another
strong female personality on board. Not that I disagree that it is needed,
but I want to see both Riker and Picard on the big E.)
Maybe they could keep Shelby on board as second officer? Maybe Riker gets
promoted to Captain and remains on the Enterprise as "second captain" to
Picard? Is that possible?
If all of the above is too much for a two-parter, make it a three-parter. I
know this epsiode would make a hell of a movie (would probably beat some of
the ST movies.)
HOW MANY BORG SHIPS ARE THERE?
I think many of you miss the obvious. There must be more than one Borg
ship. No one said that the same ship we saw in TBoBW is the one they
encountered the first time. In fact I'd speculate that this is a different
ship on groungs that this one was moving with an edge of the cube facing
forward rather than one flat face of the cube (I know this is a bit too much
to speculae on, but it's all we've got.) There are more borg ships I say.
Some ships may have been the cause of destruction in different outposts at
different times, and not necessarily the two the Enterprise engaged. It
makes sense. The ship the Enterprise engaged now was simply located closer
than the one Q threw them at (two years travel time.) The Borg must've
contacted the ship closer to the Federation by some form of subspace capable
to faster signal travel, and asked them to recruit who want to "be all that
you can be". There's no need for weak explanations such as "sustained warp
speed". Another reason for more Borg ships is that if indeed the Enterprise
with help from others destroys this Borg ship, there would be others coming
in one year or so, and we could have some continuation for the opening of
the 5th season.
QUESTION:
What was that red light that beamed out of Picard/Locutus's right ear
device? He was the only Borg with this device.
STARTREK (AND THIS EPISODE) In SHORT:
Awsome epsiode. Very high on my logarithmic scale.
Continuity. Realism. That's what I want.
SATIRE:
If Mel Brooks is listening out there and plans on a StarTrek satire movie:
jeep Picard as captain, and open the movie with "... to go where no Boldy
has gone before." :-)
Erez.
A wank's morning starts one machine | Arpa: e...@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu
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David T. Sandberg
just before the 4th season premiere, since they are probably the only
people who haven't seen the show yet...]
In article <1990Jun25.0...@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> e...@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Erez Zadok) writes:
>I don't want to see Geordi's weapon blast the Borg to smithereens. That
>would be too easy and too good to be true. The Enterprise fires and makes
>lots of damage for the Borg ship, but not enough to render it "beyond
>repair" (that was estimated at 78%.)
Conversely, I wouldn't be surprised if the deflector dish weapon doesn't
work at all. Either something will malfunction, or it will just not be
effective for some reason. However, some turn of events might keep the
Borg ship close at hand for a while longer (at least long enough for a
resolution to come about).
>...................................I'd speculate that this is a different
>ship on groungs that this one was moving with an edge of the cube facing
>forward rather than one flat face of the cube (I know this is a bit too much
>to speculae on, but it's all we've got.)
A possible reason for the different orientation of the Borg ship has
occurred to me.
The first time Enterprise encountered one of these beasties, the Borg
didn't know what they were facing, and spent most of their time probing
and checking out their opponent. This time, however, the Borg obviously
have come to conquer. Therefore, they switch to a "battle posture", as
it were, which brings more of their weaponry to bear on the target, i.e.
the following diagram:
<big E> <big E>
^ ^ ^
| | |
Q Who encounter: ####### TBoBW encounter: ##
####### ######
####### ##########
####### ######
##
--
david sandberg ^J qcs ^J richfield mn ^J d...@quad.sialis.mn.org
Mike Corbett
*** SPOILER WARNING ***
>
>In article <1990Jun25.0...@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> e...@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Erez Zadok) writes:
>>I don't want to see Geordi's weapon blast the Borg to smithereens. That
>>would be too easy and too good to be true. The Enterprise fires and makes
>>lots of damage for the Borg ship, but not enough to render it "beyond
>>repair" (that was estimated at 78%.)
>
>Conversely, I wouldn't be surprised if the deflector dish weapon doesn't
>work at all. Either something will malfunction, or it will just not be
>effective for some reason. However, some turn of events might keep the
>Borg ship close at hand for a while longer (at least long enough for a
>resolution to come about).
I have been waiting to see if anyone else would realise something I thought
of after watching BoBW the second time. Since Picard is now at least partially
borgified I would expect the Borg to know about Geordi's BIG BLAST weapon,
which was in the planning stages (and known to the captain) before Picard was
nabbed.
Think about it. Wouldn't "Locutus, of the Borg" have told the collective
about this possibly SERIOUS threat? Also, this knowlege would make it much
easier to have part 2 last more than the 3 seconds it would take to obliterate
the Borg ship after Worf fires.